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A SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT DOG

Name: A SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT DOG
Author: Gary Shiebler
ISBN: 0-7679-0026-X

by Gary Shiebler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1997

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Vapid dog stories, prompted by Shiebler's own pets and a stint as ``humane educator'' at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in southern California. Shiebler has lived with a number of dogs and met many another at the animal center, and here he gives each one less than its due in fleeting profiles, often of no more than a few pages. Some of the dogs are his protectors, his confidants, friends, or heroes; one in particular is a ``gift from God.'' In others he finds reflections of people in his life: One smug golden retriever suggests his prima donna grandmother; a scared and timid orphan dog reminds him of a certain scared but haughty orphaned boy. Shiebler tenders little homilies on being nonjudgmental; prays for the little ``brown'' dogs without personality, forgotten and miserable; experiences the ``tiny miracle'' that happens when the most pathetic pooch at the animal center finds a home. With every canine experience, Shiebler becomes an ever worthier, more self-intimate soul. But these vignettes are too short for the dogs' personalities to shine through, though Shiebler's personality gets ample massaging: ``My modeling career had evolved into an acting and TV commercial career that was really beginning to take off''; Shiebler might understand why, in an instant of repose, one dog strikes him as ``the matriarch, the Indian elder, the wise one,'' but readers will need more than Shiebler's recounting of his sweat lodge experience to make the connection. And when the author spouts one of his frequent inanities- -``Raising a puppy is remarkably similar to raising a baby''- -readers may begin to question just what they are doing reading this book. (4 b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-7679-0026-X

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Broadway

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1997

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.